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One of the ways consumers can push back on this is by becoming educated on health care practice. I would never have let a hospital give me a CT scan for a simpl

One of the ways consumers can push back on this is by becoming educated on health care practice. I would never have let a hospital give me a CT scan for a simple throat problem. Then there are other issues that (supposedly) you have no control over. When I was hit on my bike, I refused the trip in the ambulance to a hospital. But when I got worse just an hour later, I ordered a taxi to go to an urgent care clinic. The clinic said I needed to be treated at a hospital, and then insisted that they would not let me leave except in an ambulance - which I then had to pay for. Another thing that's stupid: apparently you have to pay for your ambulance ride in Pinellas County, Florida, but you never have to pay for your ride in Montgomery County, Maryland. The reason you don't have to pay in Montgomery County? The state forced the county to shoulder tens of millions of dollars in teaching funds, and they had to come up with the money - so they made a law that county EMS could directly bill insurers, and this money goes directly to the county.

davidcbc 9y ago
> One of the ways consumers can push back on this is by becoming educated on health care practice. I would never have let a hospital give me a CT scan for a simple throat problem. The average person doesn't have time to become enough of a medical expert to second guess their doctors about everything.
FireBeyond 9y ago
> and then insisted that they would not let me leave except in an ambulance - which I then had to pay for. As an EMS provider, that is against the law. As long as you can show competence and comprehension, you are entitled (as you did with the ambulance in the first place) to refuse care, or any part of it ("You can dress my wounds, but not transport me"). They may wish to document your refusal AMA ("Against Medical Advice") for their liability / stave off abandonment claims, but "refusing to let you leave" is akin to kidnapping, no different to if anyone else had done it. (Psych holds and such in my area require Law Enforcement involvement, even on scene, as they are the only people authorized to actually 'enforce' the involuntary transport/hold laws, though it's with our recommendation).

davidcbc 9y ago

> One of the ways consumers can push back on this is by becoming educated on health care practice. I would never have let a hospital give me a CT scan for a simple throat problem. The average person doesn't have time to become enough of a medical expert to second guess their doctors about everything.

FireBeyond 9y ago

> and then insisted that they would not let me leave except in an ambulance - which I then had to pay for. As an EMS provider, that is against the law. As long as you can show competence and comprehension, you are entitled (as you did with the ambulance in the first place) to refuse care, or any part of it ("You can dress my wounds, but not transport me"). They may wish to document your refusal AMA ("Against Medical Advice") for their liability / stave off abandonment claims, but "refusing to let you leave" is akin to kidnapping, no different to if anyone else had done it. (Psych holds and such in my area require Law Enforcement involvement, even on scene, as they are the only people authorized to actually 'enforce' the involuntary transport/hold laws, though it's with our recommendation).